ALMS-BOWL. while it was most desirable they should have every attention paid to them, prudence forbade mothers and mistresses of families to repair to them, and thus, while the heathen allowed their poor and their sick to pine in wretchedness and to die before their eyes unpitied and uncared for, there was not in the first ages a solitary individual of the Christian poor, who did not enjoy all the comforts of a temporal and spiritual nature that his situation required.” 67 great virtues, viz., almsgiving, affability, promoting the prosperity of others, and loving others as ourselves; it is superior to the observance of the precepts, the path that all the Budhas have trod, a lineage to which they have all belonged. When the gift, the giver, and the receiver are all pure, the reward is regarded as proportionately great. The giver must have purity of intention. When he presents the gift he must think, May it be to me as a hidden treasure, that I may find again greatly increased in a future birth. And he must think both before and after the gift is presented, that he gives to one who is possessed of merit. When any one gives that which has been procured by his own labour, he will have wealth as his reward, but no retinue or attendants. When he gives that which he has received from others, he will have attendants but no wealth. When he gives both kinds, he will have both rewards; but when he gives neither, he will have neither of the rewards. The reward for the giving of alms, accord The apostolic plan of collecting every Lord's day is still followed in all Christian churches, the contribution being made in different modes. In Presbyterian churches the collection is made by voluntary contributions at the church-door on entering the church. The order in the English Episcopal church is, that the alms should be collected at that part of the Communion Service which is called the Offertory, while the sentences are reading which follow the place appointed for the sermon. In early times the poor ranged themselves at the doors of the churches, and were supplied with alms by the peo-ing to this ancient system of religion, is not merely ple as they entered. Chrysostom refers to the custom, expressing his warm approval of it. Alms were also more liberally distributed during the season of Lent: "For the nearer," says Bingham, "they approached to the passion and resurrection of Christ, by which all the blessings in the world were poured forth among men, the more they thought themselves obliged to show all manner of acts of mercy and kindness toward their brethren." Among the Mohammedans, very great importance is attached to the duty of almsgiving. In some cases alms are entirely voluntary; but in other cases, the mode of giving is prescribed by the law. In the latter cases, six conditions are required in the giver: 1. He must be a Mussulman, that is, a true believer. 2. A freeman. 3. Lawful possessor of what he is to give away. 4. His patrimony must be increased. As riches increase, it is alleged alms should increase at two and a half per cent. Those who have not twenty pieces of gold, or two hundred in silver, or five camels, or thirty oxen, or thirty sheep, are not obliged to give alms. 5. He must have been in possession about a year, or more minutely still, at least eleven months, without pawning it. 6. He must not give as alms his working cattle, but one of those which are at grass, because alms are to be out of what is not necessary. The Mohammedans call alms Zacat, which signifies increase, because it draws down God's blessing; and Sadakat, because they are a proof of a man's sincerity in the worship of God. Almsgiving is regarded by them as so pleasing to God, that caliph Omar Ebn Abdalaziz used to say, Prayer carries us half-way to God; fasting brings us to the door of his palace; but alms procure us admission." Of all the modes of acquiring merit in the system of Budhism, that of almsgiving is the principal; it is the chief of the virtues that are requisite for the attainment of the Budhaship; it is the first of the four a benefit that is to be received at some future period; it promotes length of days, personal beauty, agreeable sensations, strength and knowledge; and if the giver be born as a man, he will have all these advantages in an eminent degree. It was expressly declared by Gótama Budha, that "there is no reward, either in this world or the next, that may not be received through almsgiving." Thus almsgiving has been converted into a mercenary act, whereby a man earns a reward both here and hereafter. The same views are promulgated in connection with the Brahmanism of the Hindus. To ask alms and live on the charity of their fellowmen, is reckoned in many systems of religion a merit of a peculiar kind. Thus the fakirs and dervishes of Mohammedan, and the begging friars of Popish countries are restricted to a life of poverty, relying for their support on the charity of the faithful. Christianity recognizes no such practices. It teaches in plain language that if a man will not work neither should he eat, and that it is the duty of every Christian man to labour, working with his own hands, that he may have to give to him that needeth ALMS-BOWL, a vessel used by the priests of Budha, for the purpose of receiving the food presented in alms by the faithful. It is laid down as a strict rule that they must eat no food which is not given in alms, unless it be water, or some substance used for the purpose of cleaning the teeth; and, when in health, the food that a priest eats must be procured by his own exertions in carrying the alms-bowl from house to house in the village or city near which he resides. When going to receive alms, his bowl is slung across his shoulder, and is usually covered by the outer robe. It may be made of either iron or clay, but of no other material. It must first be received by a chapter, and then be officially delivered to the priest whose bowl is found on examination to be in the worst condition. No priest is allowed to procure a new bowl so long as his old one has not been bound with five ligatures to prevent it from falling to pieces; and he is not allowed to use an extra bowl more than ten days, without permission from a chapter. When a priest approaches a house with the almsbowl, he must remain as though unseen; he may not hem, nor make any other sign that he is present; and he is not allowed to approach too near the dwelling. He must not stretch out his neck like a peacock, or in any way bend his head that he may attract the attention of those who give alms; he is not allowed even to move the jaw, or lift up the finger for the same purpose. The proper mode is for the priest to take the alms-bowl in a becoming manner; if anything is given he remains to receive it; if not, he passes on. Budha has said, "The wise priest never asks for anything; he disdains to beg; it is a proper object for which he carries the alms-bowl; and this is his only mode of solicitation." The priest is forbidden to pass by any house when going with the bowl to receive alms, on account of its meanness or inferiority; but he must pass by the house if near it there be any danger, as from dogs. When he visits a village, street, or house, three successive days without receiving anything, he is not required to go to the same place again; but if he receives only the least particle, it must be regularly visited. When he has gone out with the bowl and not received anything, should he meet a person in the road who is carrying food intended for the priesthood, he may receive it; but if anything has previously been given him, this is forbidden. As he goes his begging rounds, he is prohibited from uttering a single word; and when the bowl is sufficiently filled, the priest is to return to his dwelling, and eat the food he has received, of whatever kind it may be. Some of the regulations in regard to the use of the alms-bowl, as observed by the Budhist priests in Ceylon, are too curious to be omitted. We quote from a very interesting work on Eastern Monachism by Mr. Hardy, a Wesleyan missionary, who spent many years in Ceylon, and acquired an intimate acquaintance with both the doctrines and practices of the Budhists. "The food," says Mr. Hardy, "given in alms to the priest is to be received by him meditatively; it is not to be received carelessly, so that in the act of being poured into the alms-bowl some may fall over the sides; the liquor and the solid food are to be received together, without being separated; and the alms-bowl is not to be piled up above the mouth. The food is also to be caten meditatively, with care, so that it is not scattered about; without picking and choosing, the particles that come first to hand being first to be eaten; the liquor and the solid food are to be eaten together, not beginning in the centre and heaping the food up, nor covering the liquor with rice. The priest, unless when sick, may not ask for rice or curry to eat; he may not look with envy into the bowl of another; nor eat mouth fuls larger than a pigeon's egg, but in small round balls; he may not fill the mouth, nor put the hand into the mouth when taking food; nor talk when his mouth is full; nor allow particles to drop from his mouth; nor swallow his food without being properly masticated; and one mouthful must be swallowed before another is taken. He may not shake his hand to free it from the particles that may be attached to it, nor may the food be scattered about nor the tongue put out, nor the lips smacked, nor the food sucked up with a noise. He may not lick his hands, nor the bowl, nor his lips, when he eats. A vessel of water may not be taken up when the hand is soiled from eating, and the rinsing of the bowl is not to be carelessly thrown away. No priest can partake of food unless he be seated." From the Thibetan works on Budhism, we learn, according to Mr. Hardy, that the priests of Gotama were accustomed to put under ban, or interdict, any person or family in the following mode. In a public assembly, after the facts had been investigated, an alms-bowl was turned with its mouth downwards, it being declared by this act that from that time no one was to hold communication with the individual against whom the fact had been proved. No one was to enter his house, or to sit down there, or to take alms from him, or to give him religious instruction. After a reconciliation had taken place, the ban was taken off by the alms-bowl being placed in its usual position. This act was as significant as the bell, book, and candle; but much less repulsive in its aspect and associations. Not only was the alms-bowl carried by the priests, it was carried also by the priestesses, or chief female recluses, who went from door to door in the same manner as the priests, receiving the contributions of the faithful. The figure of a priest of Budha, as he is to be seen in all the villages and towns of Ceylon that are inhabited by the Singhalese or Kandians, is curious and picturesque. He usually walks along the road at a measured pace, without taking much notice of what passes around. He has no covering for the head, and is generally barefooted. In his right hand he carries a fan, not much unlike the hand-screens that are seen on the mantel-piece of an English fireplace, which he holds up before his face when in the presence of women, that the entrance of evil thoughts into his mind may be prevented. The alms-bowl is slung from his neck, and is covered by his robe, except when he is receiving alms. When not carrying the bowl, he is usually followed by an attendant with a book or small bundle. See BUDHISTS. ALMS-CHEST. By the 84th canon of the Church of England, it is appointed that a chest be provided and placed in the church to receive the ofierings for the poor of such persons as might be disposed to contribute on entering or leaving the church, at evening service, and on days when there is no communion. ALOA-AL SIRAT. ALOA, a holy day observed by the heathen labourers of Athens, after they had received the fruits of the earth in honour of Dionysus and Demeter. ALOGIANS (Gr. a, not, and logos, the Word), a Christian sect which arose towards the end of the second century, according to Epiphanius and Augustine, who represent them as holding that Jesus Christ was not God the Logos, but mere man. They are also said to have rejected the Gospel and Revelation of John. Dr. Lardner confidently asserts that this is a fictitious heresy, and there never were any Christians who rejected John's Gospel and Revelation, and yet received the other Gospels, and the other books of the New Testament. It is no doubt somewhat suspicious, that no notice is taken of the Alogians in Irenæus, Eusebius, or any other ancient writer before Philaster and Epiphanius. Still the authors who do speak of them are so respectable and trustworthy, that we cannot deny a heresy to have existed which attracted such notice that it spread through Asia Minor. The Alogians appear to have been keen antagonists of the MONTANISTS (which see), and to have either denied the continuance of the miraculous gifts which distinguished the Apostolic Church, the charismata which in their form discovered something of a supernatural character; or were not ready to acknowledge the prophetic gift as a thing that pertained to the Christian economy, but considered it as belonging exclusively to the Old Testament; and hence they could not admit any prophetic book into the canon of the New Testament. Hence their rejection of the Apocalypse, and in this point they agreed with some of the earlier Millenarians, who ascribed the authorship of that book to Cerinthus. These poems, 69 same manner, till all the letters of the alphabet have been gone over. The artificial mode of writing resorted to in alphabetical poems, as has been remarked by Bishop Lowth, "was intended for the assistance of the memory, and was chiefly employed in subjects of common use, as maxims of morality and forms of devotion, which were expressed in detached sentences or aphorisms-the forms in which the sages of ancient times delivered their instructions, and which required this more artificial form to unite them, and so to assist the mind in remembering them." AL SAMERI, the name of the person who, the Mohammedans allege, framed the golden calf for the worship of the Israelites in the wilderness. They represent him as a chief among the Israelites, and they believe that some of his descendants inhabit an island bearing his name in the Arabian Gulf. The fable which they have constructed on the Bible narrative of the worship of the golden calf is curious. Aaron, they say, ordered Al Sameri to collect all the golden ornaments of the people, and to preserve them till the return of Moses; but Al Sameri being acquainted with the art of melting metals, threw them into a furnace to melt them down into one mass, and there came out an image of a calf. Al Sameri then took some dust from the footsteps of the horse which the angel Gabriel rode, as he led the Israelites through the wilderness, and throwing it into the mouth of the calf, the image immediately became animated and began to low. According to Abulfeda, all the Israelites worshipped this idol, with the exception of twelve thousand, who refused to involve themselves in this guilty act. See CALFWORSHIP. ALSCHEERA, Sirius or the Dog-star, worshipped by the Arabians in ancient times. AL SIRAT, the sharp-bridge which the Mohammedans believe to be laid over the middle of hell, and which must be crossed by all, at the close of the solemn judgment, whether destined for paradise or the place of torment. The eleventh article of the Mohammedan profession of faith wholly concerus Al Sirat, and is as follows: "We must heartily be ALPHABETICAL POEMS. several of which are to be found in the Old Testament, are characterized by the general peculiarity, that each of them consists of twenty-two lines or twenty-two stanzas, corresponding to the number of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. When the hymn or poem consists of twenty-two lines, each line begins with a letter of the alphabet in its order; or if it consists of twenty-two verses or parts, then each verse or part commences with a letter of the alpha-lieve, and hold it for certain that all mankind must bet, the letters being in regular succession. This metrical arrangement is found in Psalms xxv. xxxiv. xxxvii. cxi. cxix. cxlv. Prov. xxxi. Lam. i, ii, iii, iv. There is a curious peculiarity in the construction of Psal. cxix. It is divided into twenty-two sections, each of which begins with a letter of the alphabet like the other alphabetical poems with which it is usually classed. But each section consists of eight stanzas of two lines each; and each of these eight stanzas begins with the same letter which characterizes the section to which it belongs. Thus for example, the first section begins with aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and consists of eight stanzas, each of which begins also with aleph; and every successive section and stanza begins in the go over the sharp bridge, which is as long as the earth, no broader than a thread of a spider's web, and of a height proportioned to its length. The just shall pass it like lightning, but the wicked, for want of good works, will be an age in performing that task. They will fall and precipitate themselves into hellfire, with blasphemers and infidels, with men of little faith and bad conscience, with those who have not had virtue enough to give alms. Yet some just persons will go over it quicker than others, who will now and then be tried upon the commands which they shall not have duly observed in this life! How dreadful will this bridge appear to us! What virtue, what inward grace of the Most High will be required to get over it! How earnestly shall we look for that favour! What desarts, what venomous creatures shall we not find on our road! What hunger, drought, and weariness shall we endure! What anxiety, grief, and pain shall attend those who do not think of this dangerous passage! Let us beg of God to grant us, with bodily health, the grace not to go out of this life loaded with debts; for the Arabians often say, and with good reason, that no obstacle is so hidden as that which we cannot overcome by any expedient or artificial contrivance whatever." The Profession of Faith from which this quotation is made, though by no means an authoritative document, has evidently been written by one thoroughly acquainted with the Mohammedan religion as set forth in the Koran, and exhibits a very distinct view of the creed of a Mussulman. and to cause their children to pass through the fire to Moloch. On these accounts the Israelites were commanded by God to destroy all such high places of the heathen idolaters. The altars built by the patriarchs were of stone, rudely built; thus the altar which Jacob reared at Bethel was simply the stone which had served him for a pillow. And the earliest stone altars which Moses was commanded to raise were to be of unhewn stones: Exod. xx. 25. "And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it." Among the heathen, altars were at first formed of turf, then of stone, marble, wood, and even sometimes of horn, as that of Apollo at Delos. They differed in shape also as well as materials. Some were round, some square, and others triangular. All their a`tars turned towards the East, and stood lower than the statue of the god. They were adorned with sculptures, representing the deity to whom they were erected, or the appropriate symbols. Most of the ancient Greek altars were of a cubical form. The great Roman temples generally contained three altars: the first in the sanctuary at the foot of the statue for incense and libations; the second before the gate of the temple for the sacrifice of victims; and the third was a portable one for the offerings and sacred vestments, and vessels to lie upon. When the altars were prepared for sacrifice, they were generally decorated with garlands or festoons. Those erected to the manes or shades of the dead, were adorned with dark blue fillets and branches of cypress. On the sides of altars among the ancient heathens were often sculptured various symbolical or ornamental devices, representing the animals offered to the respective deities, or the difierent attributes or emblems of these deities; also the gods to whom, and the persons by whom, they were erected. Sometimes the same altar was dedicated to more than one divinity, and at other times two or even more altars were consecrated on the same spot to the same deity. When hecatombs were offered, the number of the altars required to correspond to the number of the victims. ALTAR (Lat. altare or altarium, from altus, high), a place or pile on which sacrifices were offered. From the derivation of the word, it is plain that elevated places were originally selected as altars. Natural heights, hills and mountains, were the most common places of sacrifices, in early ages, as being raised above the earth and nearer to the heavens. On this principle the ancient Greeks and Romans erected higher altars, generally of stone, dedicated to the superior gods, but inferior altars, not of stone, to the inferior gods, to heroes, and to demi-gods. The former were called altaria, the latter are, while altars dedicated to the infernal gods were only holes dug in the ground, called scrobiculi. Altars seem to have been originally constructed in places surrounded with groves and trees, which rendered the situation shady and cool. Although Cain and Abel must have erected an altar when they offered a sacrifice after the fall, the first altar to which we find reference made in the Old Testament is that which was built by Noah after the deluge, Gen. viii. 20, "And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar." When Abraham dwelt at Beersheba in the plains of Mamre, we are informed, Gen. xxi. 33, that he planted a grove there, and called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God." At the giving of the law we find altars ordered to be made by heaping up a quantity of earth, and covering it with green turf: Exod. xx. 24. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee." Such temporary altars were termed by the ancient heathens are ubita, cespitiæ vel gramineæ. The ashes which remained after the sacrifice was offered were often allowed to lie, and such places as were already consecrated by a previous offering were readily chosen again, a natural altar formed of ashes being already formed for the sacrifice. On these altars in the open air heathen idolaters were most frequently accustomed to offer up human sacrifices, | Greek churches uniformly adhered to the wooden al It was customary among the ancients to swear upon the altars on solemn occasions, confirming alliances and treaties of peace. They were also regarded as places of refuge, and served as an asylum and sanctuary for criminals of any kind. In the Church of Rome, and some also of the Reformed churches, the communion table is called an altar, because on it are placed the appointed memorials of Christ's body and blood. The altars in Christian churches were originally constructed of wood. But in the course of the third or fourth century stone altars came to be in use, and it was decreed by the council of Paris in 509, that no altar should be built of any other material than stone. The Eastern or ALTAR. tars, while the Western churches built them of stone, alleging in vindication of the practice that such altars represented Christ the foundation-stone of that spiritual building, the church. At first there was but one altar in each church, but the number gradually increased, until in the same church were sometimes found in the sixth century twelve or thirteen. The altar in Romish churches has several steps leading to it, which are often covered with carpet, and adorned with many costly ornaments, according to the season of the year. The consecration of the altar is a regular part of the ceremony as laid down in the Pontificale Romanum, to be observed in the consecration of a church. During the Antiphon and Psalm xlii. the pontiff in mitre dips the thumb of his right hand in the water which he has blessed, and with that thumb and the said water makes a cross on the centre of the altar-slab, saying, "Be this altar hallowed to the honour of Almighty God, and the glorious Virgin Mary, and all saints, and to the memory of St. N. In the name of the Father," &c. Then with the same water and the same thumb, the priest makes four crosses on the four corners of the altar, repeating at each cross the same words as he had already spoken when making a cross in the centre of the altar-slab. The first cross he makes in the back corner of the right side; the second in the front corner of the left side, transverse to the first; the third in the front corner of the right; and the fourth in the left back corner, transverse to the third. The crossing having been completed, then follows the first prayer over 'the altar, after which the Pontiff begins Psal. 1. in Latin, "Miserere mei Deus," and during the chant he goes round the altarslab seven times with a pause between each circuit, and sprinkles both it and the trunk of the altar with the holy water, coming round to where he began, there pausing, then starting round again, and so on till he has done so seven times. This, however, is only the commencement of the ceremony, in so far as the altar is concerned. After the consecration and depositing of the sacred relics in the tomb appointed for them, the Pontiff twelve different times makes five crosses with the Catechumenal oil, and afterwards with the chrism, namely, in the centre and four corners of the altar in the same places and same way and order as he had done before with the holy water, repeating at each cross the same words. Thus there are sixty additional crossings. But, in addition to this, the Pontiff hallows the incense to be burned on the altar, during which he makes five incense-crosses, each cross consisting of five grains; and over each cross of incense he lays a cruciform fine candle of the same size with the incense-cross then the top of each candle cross is so lighted, that both the candles and the incense may be consumed together. As soon as all the crosses are lighted, the Pontiff, putting off his mitre, and falling on his knees before the altar, begins "Alleluia. Come, Holy Ghost; fill the hearts of | | 71 thy faithful ones, and kindle in them the fire of thy love." Then follows a long series of prayers, and crossings, and incensings, more especially crossing the front of the altar, which is made with the chrism, and attended with a prayer, when the sub-deacons rub it with towels used for that and no other purpose; after which the altar-cloths, and vessels, and ornaments being hallowed and sprinkled with holy water, the altar is decked while several Antiphons and Responsories are chanted. Three times during the chanting does the Pontiff cense the altar atop in the form of a cross. Then either he, or a priest by his orders, celebrates mass upon the now consecrated altar, and closes the long protracted service with the benediction, and declaring of indulgences for one year to every one who has visited the church on that solemn occasion, and forty days' indulgence to every one visiting it on the anniversary of its consecration. The Rubric strictly enjoins, that, if more altars than one are to be consecrated in the same church, "the Pontiff must take care to perform the acts and ceremonies, and in the same words on each altar successively, as he does on the first altar." There are frequently in Romish churches various altars, the one at which High Mass is said being larger and more highly ornamented than the rest. A singular ceremony is performed on the Thursday of Holy Week in St. Peter's at Rome. It is the washing of the high altar with wine. It is thus described by an eye-witness : "A table is prepared beside the high altar, on which are placed six glass cups, and one of silver, filled with wine, also a bason containing seven towels, and another containing seven sponges. | Service is performed in the chapel of the choir, and after it Aspergilli, or sprinkling brushes, are distributed to all who are to take part in the ceremony. They walk in procession to the high altar, having a crucifix, and two candles snuffed out, carried before them, another emblem of the darkness which covered the earth at the crucifixion. "On arriving at the altar, a cup is given to each of seven of the canons of St. Peter's, who pour the contents upon the table of the altar, and then wash it with their sprinkling brushes. These seven are followed by a great many other priests of various ranks, chaplains, musicians, &c., who all go through the same process of rubbing the altar with the sprinkling brushes which had been delivered to them. When this is concluded, the bason with seven sponges is presented to the seven canons who officiated first, and with them they clean the altar; the bason with seven towels is presented last of all, and with them they dry it. The procession then adore the three great relics adored in the ceremonial of Good Friday, and after their departure, the assistants complete the cleansing and drying of the altar. "The sprinkling brushes used on this occasion are done up in the form of a diadem, in memory of |